


The Gambler

by campsearchlight



Category: Wolf 359 (Radio)
Genre: Declarations Of Love, Major plot spoilers, Other, Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-04
Updated: 2019-05-04
Packaged: 2020-02-21 15:27:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,055
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18705091
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/campsearchlight/pseuds/campsearchlight
Summary: If Eiffel wasalmostconvinced that he was going to die.





	The Gambler

“I don’t know what’s going to happen, but I have a hunch, and you know I’ve always been kind of a gambler.”

Eiffel waited for a reply from Minkowski. He waited _minutes_. He couldn’t be certain that he was still transmitting to them. He told himself that they could hear him, that he just couldn’t hear them. If that was the case, at least they would hear what he had to say next.

“Uh... okay. Okay. If I’m still transmitting as I’m making a speedy getaway from the _Hephaestus_ , this is—once more and hopefully not for the last time—Douglas F. Eiffel, also known as your communications officer, also known as DJ Dougie Fresh. What I’m about to say is completely, one hundred percent bonkers, but you just have to hang with me here. I... I have to go _into_ the star. Crazy, I know. And stupid. The stupidest thing I’ve ever done. But, I know what the aliens want. I _think_.” He chuckled lowly. “If I’m wrong, then I’m sure you’re all absolutely heartbroken over the loss of...” His voice trailed off, his eyes grazing over the vast field of stars behind the one giant one that was going to swallow him up. “At the loss of your b-beloved... me. But, believe me when I say that I feel like I’m onto something.

“I hope this isn’t, like, the end of Doug Eiffel, but if it is, there are some things I have to say to you all before I _might_ shuffle off this mortal coil. So, listen up.

“Commander. You’re up first.” He sighed, not sure what to say. He decided to just let flow his thought stream. “I’m sorry for being such a pain in your ass. There was literally _nothing_ else to do on that station—and if I had to watch _Home Alone Two_ one more time, I was going to find a way to destroy that tape. I’m not kidding. Hera and I would have pulled an Ocean’s Two-like heist to get to that tape.” He laughed, borderline hysterical. Then, he quieted. Collected himself, as much as he could. Then, he continued: “I—I hope you understand that I had to take that tube of toothpaste, too. I need to be minty fresh at _least_ once a day. I hope you’ll forgive me for all the shenanigans and, you know, petty theft.

“Captain Lovelace, I didn’t know you for nearly as long as the Commander, and a lot of that time was, in all honesty, incredibly unpleasant. And your heart stopping for, literally, five seconds almost got me horrifically killed. _But_ —and I say this with more honesty piled on top—you ended up being... a really good captain and a really good _person_. Thank you for keeping a level head when one of us does something stupid that almost gets themselves or everyone else killed. And—before you say anything—by ‘one of us,’ I, of course, mean me.”

Eiffel’s eyes drifted away from the star. If he could somehow turn around, would he see the _Hephaestus_? Probably not. It was miles and miles away by now. The thought unsettled him, but there wasn’t any going back. Not even if he wanted to.

And there was one more person he had to say goodbye to. 

His voice was hoarse when he said her name. “Hera... baby, I’m going to miss the hell outta you. I never thought I’d say this about an AI... and since I was kind of maybe scared of you for a while there at the beginning. But you’re my best friend in the—ha. I almost said ‘the whole world,’ but that won’t cut it. Hell, it’s not even accurate, seeing how we first met on that tin can. No, you’re my best friend in the whole goddamn universe. I hope against all hope that you somehow survive all this.”

Eiffel stopped, trying desperately to keep the tears at bay. “And, Hera... _Hera_. God...” His eyes closed tight, tried to ground himself. He really couldn’t let the anxiety filter into his voice now, when he was saying this final thing to the most important member of the crew. “You kept me solid, and for that, I am eternally grateful t-to”— _C’mon, keep it together, Doug_ —“you. And, I never said this, and I probably should have before... before now, and I’m sorry if this hurts, but... I love you. I’m... Jesus, I think I’m _in_ love with you.” Tears pooled in the corners of his eyes. Dammit, crying really sucked in a zero gravity, especially in a spacesuit. Even more especially while flying through empty space toward a star that would burn him alive. He tried to blink away the tears, but the sphere only grew larger and spread over the bridge of his nose. “I really, really should have said something before now, but you know I’m not the brightest.” He let out a blubbery laugh. “I was going to tell you, though. I swear, I was going to. I didn’t really want to tell you I love you for the first time while I’m thirty bazillion miles away, hurtling away from you at—at Mach sp—” He let out a choked sob. Tried to cover it with a cough, but there was no fooling Hera. “Son of a bitch, this is hard...

“But I don’t want to stop talking to you, Hera. I feel like if I stop, it’s over. I’m actually going to die—out here. Alone. The funny thing is: I never thought I’d be alone again. I-I know it’s not your fault. There’s nothing you could have done to stop this from happening. Whatever you do, don’t blame yourself. This one’s all one me.”

He couldn’t blabber on, but what else was there to do before he and Wolf-359 became intimately acquainted...

Oh, man, he was really going to die, wasn’t he?

“Hera,” he murmured, his eyes unfocused through the tears, “I know you’ll make it through this. You’ll make it back home. Because, if there’s anything—any _one_ I believe in, baby, it’s you. And, as a favor to me, I beg of you—in these _exact_ words: tell Kepler he can go fu—”

And then the star reached out and grabbed Douglas Eiffel, pulling him inside.


End file.
